Employee Engagement

As the overall economy continues to improve, the topic of employee engagement and talent wars keeps heating up. Time and time again, research has indicated that companies with a highly engaged workforce have higher profitability and greater customer satisfaction, two things every company wants more of.

Why are disengaged employees a problem? In a Forbes article, they quote a Gallup report that estimates that actively disengaged employees cost US businesses between $450 billion to $550 billion per year in lost productivity. How can that number be so high? Overall, the findings indicate that 70% of American workers are not engaged.

How did we get to this point? Here are a few issues tied to disengaged employees for consideration:

They complain and drag down moral.

They gossip and keep the animosity fires burning.

They make excuses and never take responsibility for their actions.

They’re always saying “It’s not my job” and never help others or go beyond their defined duties.

They are more likely to lie and make up stories to protect themselves.

They are less willing to work in teams. They usually want to work alone…

They typically act like they know everything and aren’t interested in learning anything new.

They don’t show any initiative and just stand around waiting to be told what to do next.

They’re irresponsible and often miss deadlines, are late for work, and break their promises.

The quality of their work becomes sub-par requiring re-work or causing any number of operational problems or customer satisfaction issues.

The Forbes article ends with a quote from Gallup CEO Jim Clifton: “…The single biggest decision you make in your job – bigger than all of the rest – is who you name manager. When you name the wrong person manager, nothing fixes that bad decision. Not compensation, not benefits – nothing.“